Kappa’s growth driven by lifestyle positioning as it launches new designer collection

Long-established Italian sport label Kappa continues to work on its brand positioning make-over, launching a new collaboration with avant-garde designer Danilo Paura. Paura has created an Autumn/Winter 2018 collection for Kappa that is distinctive for its tailored streetwear mood, and was presented at the Pitti Uomo 93 show currently under way in Florence.

An item from the Daniele Paura x Kappa collection - Instagram/Kappa"It's a positive time for us, as the market is rediscovering the worth of authentic labels like Kappa, and is very receptive to new takes on our signature products," said Lorenzo Boglione, Vice-President Sales of the Basicnet group, owner of Kappa, Superga, Robe di Kappa and K-Way, speaking to FashionNetwork.com.

“Kappa will keep focusing on its core business,” added Boglione. "About 80-90% of our revenue comes from the world of sports, though we are planning to add a series of lifestyle products to the Kappa range, mingling streetwear with high fashion."

This brand repositioning work is key to Kappa's global make-over, and has translated into several co-branding projects. One of the most recent ones was the launch last October of a capsule collection in collaboration with directional US label Opening Ceremony.

"The US market is among those crucial for Kappa's business. It posted a 19.4% sales increase in the third quarter 2017, chiefly thanks to our lifestyle collections. For the time being, we aren't planning to open new monobrand stores there, but we nevertheless intend to boost our investment in the region," said Boglione. As of 2017, the Kappa and Robe di Kappa brands between them operated over 900 stores worldwide, of which 100 in Italy.

Kappa is the leading brand within Basicnet's portfolio, generating approximately €360 million, equivalent to more than 65% of the group's consolidated revenue. At the end of the third quarter 2017, sales for Kappa and Robe di Kappa grew 3.4%. Among the top-performing markets were Germany (+35%), Russia (+17%) and notably Turkey (+66%).

“The year 2017 saw Kappa's sales grow, but has chiefly been remarkable for the label's image make-over, as it was for the other Basicnet brands," said Boglione.

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